Corporate, Municipal, Police & Charity
Cycling Event Partnerships
What I Do
Cycling Bona Fides
(since 2013)
PwC Epic Tour Canada’s largest GranFondo; launched in 2013 Close to 4,000 riders
Corporate Riding Events A partnership with Curt Harnett & Gears Bike Shop which organizes private corporate cycling events (CIBC, Blakes, Barometer Capital, Hatch Engineering)
Kelso MTB Fondo Annual mountain bike event launched in 2015 Kelso Quarry Park
Cycling Bona Fides
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Halton Hills Bike Challenge We challenged the community to ride 384,000 km Donor/sponsors make donations to the Georgetown Hospital when we’ve reached our goal Program has raised over $160,000 in 3 years 1.4% of the population engaged
Our Work in Cycling Tourism 2014
2016
PwC Epic Tour Overview Launched in 2013 Canada’s largest GranFondo Close to 4,000 riders Lifestyle cycling event, not a race nor a pledge ride Cycling combined with a post-ride Festival Live music Fresh BBQ lunch and complimentary beer 50+ exhibitors
PwC Epic Tour Overview ďƒ˜ An event built on partnerships:
Sponsors
Suppliers
Charities
Communities
Who Are The Road Cyclists? …and why they’re worth your time and effort.
The PwC Epic Tour Cyclist Profile
75% male
87% between 35 – 64 62% between 35 - 54
Cyclist Profile
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Highly affluent: 58% HH income over $150,000
They’re pack animals Highly social sport
Cyclist Profile
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They are committed to their sport
They are MAMIL’s (and MAWIL’s)
Cycling Tourism Cycle tourists have a higher level of education and household income than non-cyclists in both the Canadian and U.S. market. Around 10.8m Americans cycled on vacation in the last two years, which is around 5% of the total population. Several studies have found that cycle tourists stay longer, spend more and participate in more activities than non-cycle tourists. Cycling holidays also appeal to visitors that are concerned about their environmental footprint and wish to have a lesser impact when travelling. Relaxation is a key driver for cycling tourism and cyclists tend to come from a wealthier socioeconomic group and prefer good quality accommodations and B&B’s over campgrounds or low standard accommodations.
Our Tourism Partner
89 International Cycling Holidays
South Africa in November
Marketing to Cyclists
The Marketing of Cycling in Today’s Market Cyclists are hard to find and hard to reach Conventional advertising is not efficient and not recommended (print, radio, television, magazine) The battle is won and lost digitally and in social media PwC Epic Tour key marketing platforms:
6,137 385 19,503 in Ontario
AdRoll Implants a cookie on web browsers of visitors to your website Chases prospective customers with ads Very effective & very powerful
Paid Facebook Advertising Sponsored Newsfeed Ad:
Exact targeting:
Social media Sponsor / partners Cycling affinity groups
Bike Show Contest / Data Capture
Affiliate Marketing Research Would you consider riding Epic Tour again in 2015? 
Yes or maybe 95.3%
P.O.S.
Trial
Partnerships
Major Cycling Event: Partnership Ecosystem
Traffic Departmen t Sponsors
Traffic Management Vendor
Municipal Government
Police
Charity
LCBO
On-Course
Municipal Permits
Medical On-Course Mechanical
Why do companies engage in Sponsorship? First thing to understand is that sponsorship is simply part of the marketing mix for a company. Series of strategies and tactics available to achieve a sales and marketing objective. Famous expression “Half of advertising works and half doesn’t. The trick is figuring out which half is which”.
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Selling Sponsorships A. Who are they talking too? B. What are they trying to accomplish? How do you know the answers to these questions? 1. Meet them. Ask them. Mutual discovery. 2. Do your homework. Google is your best friend. Remember that sponsorship is about the company’s needs; not yours.
Activations / Leverage is the Key to Sponsorship Quick Case Studies:
Quick Case Studies:
Quick Case Studies:
Municipalities How To Be A Better Partner
Do You Want A Major Cycling Event in Your Market? Remove Barriers: 
Appoint a Champion who can walk an organizer through your complex world
Traffic Department Are they there to help or throw up barriers? Without their cooperation, there can be no major event Can often mean over-lapping jurisdictions Construction and road re-surfacing is a major issue year-to-year Traffic management companies are a difficult vendor to pin down
Municipal Permits Don’t let your organizer get caught up in your own bureaucratic red tape Why charge a permit fee if you are embracing an event as a community asset? Make it easy for the organizer to understand the right department and what might be expected of them to acquire appropriate permits
Police Single biggest expense on any cycle event’s budget Key part of your event safety team Anything you can do to reduce or eliminate this expense is directly proportional to the prospect of you landing an event Can auxiliary police be deployed?
Special Event Permits Regulations now require you to designate any licenced event as an “Event of Municipal Significance” Usually requires a Town/City Council Declaration Lead times are considerable to navigate through the approval process Police play a key role in re-assuring the LCBO
Good luck building your own winning partnerships!